Delightful Christmas Treat

Item: Viking Kara
Rating: 4.5
Author: cruiselpb

Viking Kara Cruise Review to River Cruises - Europe

cruiselpb

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 9

Overall rating:

4.5 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Christmas On The Rhine (Basel To Amsterdam)

Sail date: December 03, 2023

Ship: Viking Kara

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 212

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 months ago

Review summary

The daily excursions to the Christmas markets and the towns were delightful. The quiet vox headsets are the best! Plenty of free time in each port before dinner is served at 7:00 pm most nights. One night it was served at 7:30 pm. A barge stranded on the day we sailed the Middle Rhine. It delayed our leaving Mannheim for 8 hours, but it was foggy that morning, so no real concern. The fog mostly lifted for our afternoon sailing to Koblenz, (see picture), but we arrived just before dinner and many passengers did not leave the ship for that city despite the excellent docking in town. There were a couple of times that we had to dock away from the city, as in Strasbourg and Freiburg, and take a bus, but I enjoyed seeing the countryside, or a 15-20 minute walk to the city center like in Cologne where we were docked across the river. Rudesheim was my favorite town, and the ship was docked so you could walk back easily after a long evening in the Christmas Market. The most surprising and delightful town was Dordrecht. We skipped the excursion. I enjoyed walking the streets, visiting the museum, and enjoying a local pub. Very compact and easy to get around on your own, and the ship was conveniently docked in town.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

The Captain greeted us and staff gave us hot towels.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

The food was well-prepared and tasty. We preferred sitting in the Aquavit Terrace which was quieter than the main dining room. The buffet had a variety of nice dishes. We enjoyed the daily specialty menus.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

No pool, no rock wall, and no fitness center. We enjoyed the scenic cruising with narration and Christmas-themed onboard activities were amusing.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

We loved the 4 piece chamber group and the lecture on all things Germany.

Children's Programs

Viking does not allow children on the ship.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Service was excellent in all areas.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Very quiet corridors. Every area was very clean.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

The queen bed allowed only 12" width for walking next to the French balcony door making it somewhat difficult getting in and out of bed. Also, there was a cold draft. The bathroom had excellent heated floors. Cabin was always clean.

Ship tip

The only issue was that the house wine they served was the same bottle (maker, type, and vintage) every night, so we chose to buy and bring our bottles bought in town to the table instead. They do offer special wines every night but not a good value. Viking does not charge a corkage fee in the din, which is a bonus.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Basel, Switzerland

5 out of 5

We arrived 5 days early to enjoy Basel. It is a lovely city. We also hired a guide not with Viking to take us on a one-day wine tour in Alsace.

Thumbs Up 0

Breisach Am Rhine, Germany

5 out of 5

Good location. Bus ride to Freiburg and tour. Excellent morning visit, but a bit early for the Christmas Market which opened at 11am.

Thumbs Up 0

Strasbourg, France

5 out of 5

Wonderful bus ride to Strasbourg. Guide did a good job in La Petite France. Excellent Christmas Market

Thumbs Up 0

Mannheim (Heidelberg), Germany

4 out of 5

Good information on the town from the guides. We were early for the Christmas market but it was a good one, very compact.

Thumbs Up 0

Rudesheim, Germany

5 out of 5

Great dock location. Wonderful evening Christmas Market. Best stop!

Thumbs Up 0

Koblenz, Germany Did not visit port

Viking Kara arrived late.

Thumbs Up 0

Cologne, Germany

5 out of 5

Wonderful cathedral, wonderful Christmas Market, wonderful guided excursion.

Thumbs Up 0

Dordrecht, Netherlands

5 out of 5

We did not join an excursion. Very walkable city. We went to the lovely small museum instead. Rembrandt painting and others.

Thumbs Up 0

Amsterdam, Netherlands

5 out of 5

We did not have an excursion here. After disembarkation we stayed 4 days. Had a delightful visit to the Van Gogh Museum, Hop on/Hop Off bus and lots of walking.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

2 out of 5

We were overcharged by car service Viking hired to transport us to our hotel 1 mile away. 40 Euros was twice the going rate according to a Viking representative at our hotel.

Delightful Christmas Treat

Overall rating:

Review summary

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Ship tip

Ports of call

Disembarkation

Traveler Photos

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